Recently, I visited a friend and noted that his road and surrounding area was festooned with St George’s flags. Knowing him to be an avowed Marxist, I quipped that he had obviously been busy during the night. Of course, what passes for the left and the working class have gone their separate ways over the… Continue reading Britain on the Brink? The Rights and Wrongs of Rebellion
Category: Culture
Putting AI in its Place: Experience, Empowerment and Creativity
Multiple concerns have been and are being raised about the threats posed by Artificial Intelligence (AI). There are more extreme claims that AI represents an existential threat to humanity. While not dismissing any potential harms that AI might cause, I want to convince you that the problems arise when we are overawed by the myth… Continue reading Putting AI in its Place: Experience, Empowerment and Creativity
Contending with God: Philosophical Theism, Humanism and the Transcendent
There is a tradition stretching back to the Greek Presocratic philosopher Thales of supposed proofs of God’s existence expressed in philosophical and logical language independent of any doctrine or personal confession of faith, even though these, explicitly in some cases and in others presumably, motivated at some level the enterprise involved in setting forth such… Continue reading Contending with God: Philosophical Theism, Humanism and the Transcendent
Beyond the Culture Wars – An Enactivist Approach
To understand the Culture Wars which characterise much of what passes for political debate in Anglophone countries these days, it is important to understand their roots in identity politics, defined as political or social activity by or on behalf of a racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender, or other group, usually undertaken with the goal of… Continue reading Beyond the Culture Wars – An Enactivist Approach
On Stereotyping, Part 2 – Should stereotyping be considered harmful?
In Part 1 of this article where I asked Is it OK to stereotype people?, I pointed out how modern cognitive science, understood in particular in terms of the paradigm of Active Inference, leads us to conclude that stereotyping is intrinsic to all observing, understanding and learning. So any attempt to stigmatise people for engaging… Continue reading On Stereotyping, Part 2 – Should stereotyping be considered harmful?
On Stereotyping, Part 1 – Is it OK to stereotype people?
It is a commonplace assumption that stereotyping people is a bad thing which we should do our utmost to avoid. Perhaps this is a position you would agree with, on the grounds that it is wrong to make generalisations since this can result in us misjudging people and potentially treating them unfairly. But I would… Continue reading On Stereotyping, Part 1 – Is it OK to stereotype people?
Don’t be a victim! Beyond the culture of entitlement and anxiety
A paper that came out in 2014 by two sociologists, Bradley Campbell and Jason Manning, made the argument that with the rise of a more diverse and egalitarian culture, particularly in the academic world, combined with the rise of powerful administrative sectors therein, a new form of social morality has emerged that they referred to… Continue reading Don’t be a victim! Beyond the culture of entitlement and anxiety
Expertise versus Elitism
The life philosophy of an ancient fellow I once knew, who was in the habit of dispensing chunks of wisdom from his doorstep, could have been summarized in the following aphorism: “Everyone’s good at something, everyone has a weakness, and you’ve got to die of something”. In his case all three observations neatly converged on… Continue reading Expertise versus Elitism
From certainty to dialogue: furthering the project of modernity
One of the accusations thrown at postmodern theorists and activists, such as the purveyors of identity politics is that they are advocates of relativism and deniers of facts. I am going to argue that this is actually their greatest virtue. They go downhill from there on in, as they seek to impose their own brand… Continue reading From certainty to dialogue: furthering the project of modernity
Social signalling and social bonding
Recently, I was sitting very cosily in front of a log fire in a pub waiting for a friend to buy the first round at the bar. Despite it not being very busy he took quite a while to come back. In explanation he said it was because so many people are now sitting at… Continue reading Social signalling and social bonding